


Installing Family

by silversky27



Series: SouHaru Week 2k15 [3]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, SouHaru Week, android!Sousuke, mechanic!Haru
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-04
Packaged: 2018-05-04 20:56:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5348249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silversky27/pseuds/silversky27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Rin gave Haru a broken android, he hadn't expected what would come with.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Installing Family

**Author's Note:**

> For Souharu Week  
> Prompt: Family & AU

                “Oi Haru! I’ve got something for you!” Haru sighed and put down the tools he had been using. Mrs. Yukimura had dropped off a cleaner bot earlier that morning, and as impatient as the woman was, she always left a sizable tip. Haru wiped his hands off on a rag and made his way to the front of his shop where Rin was waiting. Coming through the back door he found Rin in his police uniform holding, oddly enough, an android leg.

                “Please don’t drop that.” Rin immediately fumbled the leg, before placing in back on the shelf. Haru had to prevent himself from laughing. “Now what did you want?”

                “Thanks for scaring the shit out of me.” Rin scowled before grinning. “Got an android for you. Someone dropped him off at the station earlier and we really can’t do anything with him.”

                “And what does that have to do with me?” Haru asked raising an eyebrow. Rin snorted.

                “Don’t even pretend. You told me weeks ago you were thinking about getting an assistant.” Rin paused and scratched the back of his neck. “Plus we can’t get him to turn on.”

                “So you want to give me a broken bot?”

                “I mean… Look. Do you want him or not? He’s in the car.” Rin turned and left the store and despite his objections, Haru followed. Laid across the backseat of the cop car was the body of the android, and the two maneuvered the bot into the back of the shop.

                “What’s wrong with it?” Haru asked after they had placed the bot on Haru’s desk chair in the back, Mrs. Yukimura’s machine taking up the workbench.

                “Besides not turning on, from what I can tell, his shoulder is busted.” Rin said, walking over to the droid and shifted its shirt over, exposing the shoulder. On closer inspection, the synthetic skin was almost non-existent and the exposed wires were barely keeping the shoulder in joint. Haru winced at the sight. This would take forever to actually fix.

                “I’ll take it.” Haru finally said looking back at Rin.

                “I knew you would.” Rin said with the largest shit-eating grin. “You’re the best mechanic I know.”

                “If you’re done trying to flatter me, I need to get back to work.” Haru huffed, pushing the still grinning Rin out into the front of the shop.

                “It’s not flattery if it’s true.” Rin laughed as he made his way back to his car. “This will work out. Trust me.” Rin said, suddenly becoming serious. “Just because Makoto’s off in Tokyo doesn’t mean you need to be alone.”

                “How can I be alone when you’re constantly over here?”

                “You know what I mean.” And with that he was gone. Haru watched him leave, and turned back into the shop.

                _“I’ll stay open until Mrs. Yukimura comes to pick up her bot.”_ Haru thought as he headed to the back of the shop. He paused when he saw the android sitting in the chair, before grabbing a sheet and throwing it over its head. _“I’ll deal with that later.”_ He picked up his tools, and got back to work.

~

                Haru forgot about the robot for a week. After the whirlwind that was Mrs. Yukimura, there was a sudden influx of other customers immediately afterwards. The only reason he did remember was that he had been shopping for parts.

                “Shit.” Haru muttered, finding himself in the humanoid section of the store. He picked up a sheet of the synthetic skin. He typically didn’t carry it in his own shop as he never dealt with humanoid bots before. The closest he had ever gotten was an animal AI that a man in tears had brought in after he had exhausted all of his own resources when the dog had started to glitch. Haru had been impressed with the small bot and how humanlike the AI of the dog was. He had managed to fix it, much to the gratitude of the owner, but he wasn’t sure if he could handle a full human AI. He sighed, throwing the skin into his cart, as well as grabbing a connector cable that was actually meant for humanoid models.

~

                Huffing, Haru finally managed to lug the bot onto his worktable, cursing Rin the entire time for giving him a bot almost half a foot taller than himself. It honestly still weirded him out. If Rin hadn’t told him and he couldn’t see the inner workings of the bot’s shoulder, he would have fully mistaken it for a real human. He plopped down in his formally occupied chair, pulled his laptop into his lap, and flipped it on. Without getting up, he pushed his chair over to the table, reaching over and placing his hand on the back of the droid’s neck. There was supposed to be a panel that hid the bot’s access ports, which he found after a few tries. He connected the bot to his laptop, cursing when it instantly drained the battery. Muttering under his breath, he stood back up to get his charger before plugging the laptop back up. He booted it up and jumped when instead of his normal background or diagnostics panel popping up, the screen was filled with the image of a man.

                “What the hell?” Haru muttered.

                “Asking the real questions now aren’t we.” The man on the screen snarked and Haru had to prevent himself from slamming the laptop shut. “A better question would be who are you, and what are you doing with my body?”

                “Mechanic. You’re broken.” Haru managed to get out. The man looked confused.

                “I’m not… I am?” He seemed disturbed by the idea, before realization came over his face. “They fucking got rid of me.”

                “They?”

                “My previous owners, dumbass. They use me until my fucking shoulder blows and then throw me in the garbage.” The AI ranted. Despite the insult thrown at him, Haru was honestly impressed. Normally AI had no negative feelings towards their owners. This one, however, was absolutely livid.

                “They didn’t trash you.” Haru interrupted. “They dropped you off at the police station.”

                “Like that makes it any better!” The AI yelled, throwing his hands up. Haru had to stop himself from laughing. The onscreen version of the droid was overly animated as it continued to fuss.

                “Do you have a name?” Haru asked. “You’re going to be stuck with me for a while, so I might as well have a name to call you.”

                “What do you mean ‘I’m going to be stuck with you for a while’?”

                “I’m fixing your shoulder, and then you’ll be staying in my shop.” Haru said, honestly just wanting to get to work. He could live without a name. The AI almost looked like he was going to begin arguing, but then his face went blank.

                “Sousuke.” He said quietly, before the window shut.

                “Alright then Sousuke.” Haru muttered. “This should be fun.”

~

                It took almost three weeks for Haru to finally fix Sousuke’s shoulder. During that time, he had never actually gotten the bot to turn on, but the AI stayed on his laptop as he worked. Haru thought it would be annoying, having been used to being alone whenever he worked. Strangely enough, he enjoyed the AI’s company. They didn’t always talk but their silences were comfortable. When they did, he learned about Sousuke’s past and personality. How he had been owned by a wealthy family in Tokyo, how he was used for manual labor, and how the android’s shoulder had been almost completely destroyed. Sousuke was quiet when he told that story, disappearing almost immediately afterwards.

                He finally showed up again when Haru had finished replacing the synthetic skin on his shoulder.

                “That doesn’t match” Sousuke said suddenly causing Haru to jump.

                “I know that, your highness.” Haru said back sarcastically. “But it's what I have. Now how do you turn on?”

                “It’s finished?” Sousuke asked, then disappeared from the screen. Haru blinked at the sudden disappearance. He shifted his focus back to the android’s body to see Sousuke’s eyes open suddenly.

                “ _Teal_.” Haru thought briefly, finding the color attractive.

                “Shiit it’s nice to be in my body again.” Sousuke groaned, sitting up and stretching his arms above his head. He froze, lowering his left arm and gently rubbing his shoulder. He looked up at Haru, and Haru found that his breath was caught in his chest from the joyful expression on the droid’s face. “Thank you.” He whispered, and Haru knew he was doomed.

~

                Haru couldn’t help it. He found the android extremely attractive. Since Sousuke had found his way back into his body, Haru had him set up in the front of the shop, taking care of the register while Haru worked in the back. They worked well together, and Haru didn’t want to ruin that with his dumb feelings. He was also pretty sure that the android knew of his stupid crush thanks to the little smirks whenever they were around each other. The front door clanged open, pulling Haru out of his headspace. He heard Sousuke greet the customer and tried to focus back on what he was working on. Mrs. Yukimura’s cleaning bot was back once again and Haru had no idea how the woman managed to break it so often.

                “Here.” Haru jumped. Sousuke had appeared next to him, pressing a glass of water against Haru’s forearm. He realized that he had zoned out again.

                “Thanks.” Haru murmured, taking the glass. Sousuke softly smiled at him, before becoming serious.

                “Hey.” Sousuke hesitated as Haru looked up at him. Haru hadn’t realized that the android had the ability to blush, but there it was. “What am I? To you, I mean.”

                Haru froze at the question. He knew damn it. He knew. “You’re- You’re my-“ Sousuke leaned down, pressing his forehead to Haru’s holding his head in place.

                “Because to me, you’re my family.” Sousuke said quietly, keeping his eyes locked on Haru’s. Haru frowned at that.

                “Family doesn’t feel about each other the way I feel about you.” Haru whispered.

                “Hm. Not blood family. I don’t think I count in that aspect.” Sousuke laughed. “You’re the family I choose. The family I choose to love.” Haru made a small noise before pressing his lips against the android’s. It was actually warm. Human. He felt Sousuke smile into the kiss.

                Family. Haru could work with that. And it was something he didn’t plan on letting go.    

**Author's Note:**

> Find me at theglowqueen.tumblr.com


End file.
